Keeping It in the Family (Linstead)

Chapter 82

Jay had woken up the next morning with a pretty unpleasant hangover. With Erin's permission, he had stayed late at the reception, long after Adam had gone up to his room to consummate the marriage, with Kevin and a couple of other guys, drinking quite heavily and even having a couple of cigars. What the hell, he thought, it had been a very special occasion.

"You don't look so good," was Clementine's first comment of the day when he came out of their hotel room's bathroom. She and Erin had both been asleep when he had snuck in there. Now they were both awake and out of bed.

The room had two double beds, which had meant that Clem had one to herself, much to her delight. At home she only had a single bed because her bedroom unfortunately wasn't very big. Erin hadn't bought the place with three people in mind, but she didn't want to leave after only recently having spent so much time, effort and money on getting it fixed up just the way she wanted it.

"I don't feel too good, Clem," he said. "But I'll be okay when we get down on the beach. The fresh air will fix me up."

"Jay has what is called a hangover," Erin said, coming over to him. "It's what you get when you're silly and you drink too much beer."

"Or whisky," he said before giving her a peck on the lips.

"Or whisky," Erin confirmed.

"That stuff seems horrible to me," Clementine said.

"It is," Jay told her. "Drinking is silly, and I shouldn't do it."

"So why do you do it?"

"Honestly, I'm not really sure," he replied, not wanting to say that doing silly things was fun. That was hardly what he wanted his daughter to learn.

"Clem, go and get yourself showered and brush your teeth, please," Erin said. "The quicker we get that done, the quicker we can go for breakfast."

Clementine went to the bathroom without a debate, offering Jay a private moment with Erin. "You okay?" he asked her.

"I am, yeah. You smell like a brewery."

"Sorry," he grimaced.

"It's fine, I'm glad you had a good time. Just don't come too close to me. And try not to throw up if you can help it."

"I'm not that bad," he assured her. "A fried breakfast and a few hours of fresh sea air and I'll be fine."

An hour later, they had eaten breakfast and gone down to the beach. Jay's fried food had been in contrast to Erin and Clementine's healthy affairs, but he had done what had needed to be done. His hangover was starting to feel a little better already.

Erin had asked Clementine if she wanted to learn how to snorkel, and since Clem had said she did, they had gone off to find somewhere to hire some gear. With them gone, Jay put the beach towel he had brought down on the sand and lay down on it. It was a January morning, but it was still pleasantly warm in the Bahamas. Feeling relaxed, he stretched out and closed his eyes.

A few pleasant minutes went by, and Jay felt like he was close to drifting off to sleep. He was totally at peace.

"What do you think, should I step on his nuts?"

There was no mistaking the Mexican accent.

"Hello, Raquel," he said without opening his eyes. "And hello, Z."

"Hey. Wasn't sure you were alive," Zelina said, confirming that she was indeed there as well.

"I'm not sure either," he said, eventually opening his eyes. He found both of the very attractive women standing over him, both in bikinis that didn't leave much to the imagination. To say the least, it was a pleasant sight for sore eyes. They were both holding masks, snorkels and fins. "Erin had the same idea as you for her and Clem."